House continues debate of Gov't policy statement

[7/16/2018 10:20:38 AM]

AMMONNEWS - The Lower House of Parliament Monday continued its deliberations over the government’s policy statement, which Prime Minister Omar Razzaz presented last week seeking the lawmakers' confidence.

At the opening of the session, House Speaker Atif Tarawneh refused criticism leveled yesterday by Youth Minister, Mukarram Qaisi, who picked up on a topic made by MP Tariq Khoury.

Commenting on the undisclosed topic, Tarawneh said: "This is incompatible with the Constitution, which has ensured freedom of expression without responsibility".

For his part, the minister expressed regrets, telling lawmakers: "I apologize for what happened yesterday if what I said offended the House or was misunderstood." But he did not say what happened during Sunday's session.

Moreover, MP Muntaha Bou'ol took the podium, calling for raising salaries, reviewing the Civil Service Bureau system in terms of recruitment, prosecution of the corrupt and abolishing independent entities and amalgamating them with ministries in a bid to curb squandering of public money.

MP Nabeel Geishan called for immediately freezing taxes and enhancing people's livelihoods through halting the "failed" policy of hiking taxes and urged resorting to another approach that can positively impact the economy.

The House's extraordinary session will be dedicated to discussing the policy statement of the newly-formed government, and eventually vote on whether to grant confidence to the cabinet.

The debate is expected to continue throughout the week, and after listening to the government's response to lawmakers' remarks, the House will conduct a vote.